From
1885 to 1887, the state legislature enacted three laws appropriating
monies for the erection of monuments to honor the New Jersey Civil
War regiments which fought in the battle of Gettysburg. The first
law, passed 20 April 1885 (P.L. 1885, c. 208), authorized the governor
and comptroller to spend $2,500 to erect monuments at the battlefield
to mark the positions of the New Jersey units. The second act, approved
27 April 1886 (P.L. 1886, c. 199), appropriated $3,000 for the Gettysburg
Battlefield Monument Association, and an additional $6,000 for properly
marking the positions of the regiments. The law also directed the
governor to appoint a three-man commission (the Gettysburg Battlefield
Commission of New Jersey) with the purpose of determining the style
and number of monuments. The commission was also authorized to call
on (and pay up to $300) one surviving officer from each regiment
and battery engaged in the battle to accurately locate the lines
and positions of the New Jersey men. The third and final act, passed
16 March 1887 (P.L. 1887, c. 14) further appropriated $9,450 for
the completion of the project.

The dedication of the New Jersey monuments on the battlefield at
Gettysburg took place on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the eve
of the battle, Saturday, 30 June 1888. The ceremony consisted of
an invocation by Rev. Alanson A. Haines, late chaplain of the 15th
New Jersey Infantry Regiment, speeches by Pennsylvania Governor
James A. Beaver and New Jersey Governor Robert S. Green, music,
and brief addresses by surviving members of the several New Jersey
commands engaged at Gettysburg. Members of the Locating, Erecting,
and Inscribing Commission were Colonel James N. Duffy, Chairman
of the Gettysburg Battlefield Commission of New Jersey, Honorable
Gottfried Krueger, and Honorable William H. Corbin. The commission
in charge of the dedication of the monuments included Governor Green,
Adjutant General William S. Stryker, Honorable Edward J. Anderson
(Comptroller of the Treasury), and the members of the Locating,
Erecting, and Inscribing Commission.

The photographs listed below are keyed to the monument descriptions
in the dedication program (Miscellaneous Item #5). The prints were
originally contained in an album--apparently assembled by the Adjutant
General's office--which was dismantled due to its deterioration.
The individual photographs have been placed in numbered plastic
sleeves

Contents

(click on image below for enlarged view)

Miscellaneous
Items:

No.

Caption

Image

1.

Richard
C. Drum, Adjutant General, U.S. Army, to William S. Stryker, Adjutant
General of New Jersey, listing New Jersey regiments engaged at the
Battle of Gettysburg, 6 July 1885.

Richard
C. Drum, Adjutant General, U.S. Army, to William S. Stryker, Adjutant
General of New Jersey, re: strength of New Jersey units at the Battle
of Gettysburg, 6 January 1888.

5.

Program: Dedication of the New Jersey Monuments on the Battlefield of
Gettysburg, describing each monument and giving its inscription,
30 June 1888 [3 copies].

Photographs,
ca. June 1888:

No.

Caption

Image

1.

Monument
honoring the First Brigade, New Jersey Volunteers, commanded by
Brigadier General Alfred T. A. Torbert. Known as "Kearny's
New Jersey Brigade," the First Brigade fought with the Army
of the Potomac from May 1861 to the end of the war at Appomattox
Court House in 1865.

2.

Monument
honoring Battery A, Parsons' Battery, mustered in on 12 August 1861
and mustered out on 22 June 1865, after engaging in thirty battles
[2 photographs].

3.

Monument honoring
Battery B, First New Jersey Artillery, mustered in on 3 September
1861 and Mustered out on 16 June 1865. Battery B, Clark's Battery,
was engaged in twenty-six battles, including "all the important
actions on the Peninsula, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness,
Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, and Appomattox."

4.

Monument
honoring the First New Jersey Cavalry, commanded by Major Myron H.
Beaumont. The First Cavalry was organized in September 1861 and participated
in ninety-seven engagements throughout the Civil War.

5.

Monument
honoring the Fifth New Jersey Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Colonel
William J. Sewell. The Fifth Infantry was mustered in on 22 August
1861, was consolidated with the 7th Regiment on 6 November 1864, and
was engaged in thirty-two battles.

6

Monument honoring the Sixth New Jersey Volunteer Infantry, commanded
by Lt.-Colonel Stephen R. Gilkyson. The Sixth Infantry was mustered
in on 19 August 1861, consolidated with the 8th Regiment, on 12 October
1864, and engaged in thirty battles

7.

Monument
honoring the Seventh New Jersey Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Colonel
Francine. The Seventh Infantry was mustered in on 3 September 1861
and mustered out on 17 July 1865.

8.

Monument
honoring the Eighth New Jersey Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Colonel
John Ramsay. The Eighth Infantry was mustered in on 14 September 1861
and mustered out on 17 July 1865, after engaging in thirty-eight battles.

9.

Monument
honoring the 11th New Jersey Volunteers, commanded by Colonel Robert
McAllister. The 11th Infantry was mustered in on 18 August 1862 and
mustered out in July 1865, after engaging in twenty-nine battles.

10.

Monument
honoring the 12th Regiment, erected by the survivors of the regiment
and their friends in May 1886.

11.

Monument honoring the 13th New Jersey Volunteers, 3rd Brigade, 1st
Division. The 13th Regiment was mustered in 25 August 1862 and discharged
on 8 June 1865, after engaging in the battles at Antietam in 1862,
Gettysburg in 1863, and the sieges of Atlanta and Savannah in 1864.

12.

Portrait
of Colonel George W. Smith of the 7th New Jersey Regiment [photograph
taken in 1863; obituary on reverse]